Random Strangeness

As Niki climbs up one of the door frames in the hall I hear Mady's door open. I see Mady come out of her room and walk up to Niki and start tickling her. Then I hear Niki say, "I don't need your help to fall Mady, I can do it myself!"

Mady has been playing an online game involving horse breeding and raising. She had a couple of horses and one of them wasn't doing well. She claims she tried everything to help the horses health. In the end, she created a new account with new horses!

Ezra has been running around calling everything green...?

Pook has started calling me Mama. Everyone else calls me Mommy. It sounds very sweet.

We have had a busy week. We installed screen doors on the front and back door. I ripped up the hall carpet in preperation for new flooring. Someone flooded the bathroom again and I didn't feel like cleaning the carpet. It was easier to just rip up the carpet, it took 5 minutes. It would have taken me that long to fill up the steam cleaner with boiling water. I also began staining our kitchen cabinets yesterday. I had to stop sooner than I expected. There was an accident involving some stain and 2 little boys. I forgot to rinse the brush so I can't do any more work today until Dom brings me another brush.

We spent most of this week with friends. I think between Sunday and Thursday we had smores 3 times! Niki's favorite. It was an awesome week. I think each of us have met some great people this year and are all enjoying developing those relationships. I love the fact that we can see our friends whenever the mood strikes. We aren't restricted by school schedules. We can call our friends @ 9 or 10 and be @ there house by noon playing in the creek or jumping on the trampoline.

Cheers to future screen door slamming following the laughter of our kiddo's as they run through the house.

Take Me Home, Country Roads

No photos today. I have not uploaded the recent shots to the 'pooter. I have just been hanging out with the kids this week here @ the house, mostly. I wanted to get some of the cute things they do stored so, one day, seemingly far from now, we can all re-read this and say, "Oh yeah! I remember when so and so used to do that!" And smile, or laugh, or cry, or whatever, as we read.

We went to visit a creek located @ a park yesterday. The first thing I would like to note is, while we observed many kids @ the park, after school, we were the only ones in the creek. Not bc none of the other kids didn't want to play in the creek, but because apparently one cannot play in a creek in one's school clothes. I will add @ this point, why doesn't one just remove one's school shoes and school shirt? Surely a pair of school pants can be sacrificed for a glorious afternoon of playing in the creek? I mean, half of my kids were almost completely naked. I don't think some of the parents were happy when I suggested they just take off their shoes and join us. No one did anyway. Luke stripped his clothes off as soon as we arrived and jumped in flinging his shirt around. It was pretty funny. We explored the creek for a couple hours. Then, we went to swing for about 30 minutes. From the swings we observed a beautifully inviting shade tree. We all jumped off our swings to lay under the shade tree and discover huge "water bugs." I think they are really just caca (yes I spelled it that way on purpose) roaches, but some people like to call them water bugs...I'm not sure. Note to self, look that up.

Ezra walked through the creek picking up trash. Niki helped Mady catch minnows. Mady was extremely adament that we all leave her alone so she could concentrate. The boys kept running up to Mady to see the minnows, in the process, they were scaring them away. This was very frustrating to Mady, who is, in fact, very patient with her younger brothers.

Before we even made it to the park some amazing discoveries took place right here in our yard. Mady found praying mantis' mating in the front yard. We watched this for @ least an hour. We saw a special on mantis on Discovery a few weeks ago. We know from that show, that mantis can stay attached for hours. We had to remove them from my truck before we could leave for the park. I kick myself for not putting them in the terrarium we have Then, Niki located some fungus in the backyard. The child is very observant. Our grass is so tall from all the rain, I'm not sure how she located them.

The boys are practically living outside these days. Niki loves everything Nick (as in Nick.com or TV shows.) I don't. I feel some of these shows effect her attitude. I watch them with her, even though I dislike them. We talk about the shows, but I must be missing something bc she likes to portray some of the persona's she witnesses on these shows. I am sure these are my own issues I need to let go of. It is difficult sometimes though.

We took some cues from some of our friends and cleaned out the kids closets as much as humanly possible so they can use them as places of peace for themselves. The boys love it. The girls don't seem to care so much. We had fun doing it though!

Ezra is very serious when he explains things to us. Much of what he says sounds like jibberish, but it is very important, I can tell. Luke is taking toy cars to bed with him. He is constantly talking about modes of transportation. I think it's pretty cool. He points out every tractor between our house and Jessie's. I wasn't aware of how many there actually are in the world until my 27 month old son began pointing them ALL out to me. When he begins talking to you about tractors, you get that feeling you get when you are watching a fire. @ first, you look @ it bc it is so interesting and pretty, it pulls you in. After sometime, you realize you are just looking @ it bc you have some inner burning urge to stare.

More of my amazing kid observations recorded later, after a nap maybe.

Bubbly (Colby Caillat)

Thanks everyone for letting me snap your pix. We have been busy the past week and a half, I just haven't found the time to post. This post took 45 minutes and if you ask me that is too long! I listened to the boys and Niki take turns playing the guitar while I posted it. Niki sang a song for Mady. Mady is @ her dad's. Niki misses her very much. The rest of the fam went dove hunting this morning! Dove for dinner-yummy!

I love the song Bubbly by Colby Caillat. I may try to add it to the blog later. Enjoy the pix of the magical moments with our family and friends from the past week or so. I think that song says it all for these pix.

Days Go By

I know I haven't posted much of anything in awhile. Even the posts I have made have been just lists of what we did recently. This past week everyone took a turn being ill-FUN! In between, we managed to build a KNEX roller coaster and talk about gravity, velocity, & centripical force as well as all the different types of roller coasters and which ones are our favorite @ the amusement park we occasionally visit. We also made it out to one of the state parks in the area on Wednesday since it cooled down sooo much. We spent one day with some friends as well.

Last night was Sunday dinner. Jessie and Jules got the kids some books this week so we spent the evening reading those and playing outside. It was a quiet week. Which is nice sometimes. Pictures of roller coaster to come.

Pile of Doubt

As an unschooler, sometimes do ya feel as though no one @ your house has done much lately? I know when I feel this way all I have to do is really think about what we have done. I mean, I know I have this blog and I started it with the purpose of maintaining a record of what we do. It has really turned into more of a photo album, which I don't mind but maybe I need to occasionally write something about what we actually do around here!

So we called Aunt Jessie today to tell her Happy Birthday! and she asked us what we did today. I went on to say it ended up being game day. We played Set, Blokus, Blink, Crazy 8's, & a bit of Monopoly. Niki painted a lovely picture (picture to come) and we of course jumped on the trampoline, played crash car derby with the new cars Daddy brought home, and went to the store to get some new board games. Bc, yes just as with the books, once we played all the games Niki deems fun in one day, we decided we need more games. @ the store Niki found some pirate garb, toy swords, toy guns, and knights shields which she proceeded to play with there in the isle. She fore footed all that booty for a "My Little Pony" doll with bottle and one toy gun. The girl cracks me up. We had to do some budgeting and all the things both of us chose were not in the budget. We split the money I had between the two of us. I got the boys some toy tractors, plastic dress up hats, and a strange tiny plastic horse which you set in water for 72 hours and watch it grow to 600 times it's original size! I also got Parcheesi, Yahtzee, and Uno. These games conjure fun memories for Dom and me as kids, so I thought I would get them to see if we could make some fun memories with our kids. You can see from the comparison that Niki's pony baby she just had to have was a tiny bit expensive.

We came home and checked on our Webkinz and I got online and read her some political satire links I found on one of our group posts. I was excited that she asked me to read it to her until I looked @ her to ask if she understood what I had read only to discover she was asleep! What a day!

So, are we unschoolers? Yes. But with all the talk/reading of late I think I have to add that we practice a child led life style. I think the term unschooling is so vague. We obviously do things all day and I know the babes are learning. Sometimes I just need to put my pile of doubt aside and make sure I am trusting our kids. They know themselves and I always witness what they have learned when I truly let go of expectations. Now time to crawl into my bed and see whose in it tonight.

 

 

Mady and I took a canning class last week @ the County Extension office. During the course of the day we realized we were surrounded by homeschoolers. Once we struck up conversations Mady realized she had a great deal in common with these particular homeschoolers-they love animals too! All of them are in 4H and began talking with Mady about the Vet Science program they are involved in. As they spoke I could see Mady's expressions and realized she was completely absorbed by what they were talking about. After talking with Mady @ length this weekend about all the pros and cons of this program, she has decided to take the leap and become involved with the 5 year Vet Science program.

I think this is the beginning of a great adventure for Mady-one of her own, one where I won't always be, not like pet sitting and baby sitting which she has done in our home. This adventure will set her out in the world on her own working with people who work with animals for a living. Some of the activities that have been mentioned are volunteering with a farrier, visiting a sonogram lab, & performing a necropsy, to name a few.

Our kids constantly amaze me. Ezra and Luke have started using the potty-on their own! The only way I have been involved in that was bc I was the one that dug the tiny plastic potty out of the attic and scrubbed it and placed it in the bathroom next to the big potty. They usually follow me in there anyway...so there you have it, some major milestones in the kids lives all achieved with little to no help from me. I am in awe. The more and more I let go of all these old paradigams and societies standards the more happy everyone seems and the more they really are learning when I am not standing over them "making" them learn. It's a shiny moment! :)